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Don’t Repave SFP – Restore it!

Dear Editor:

I was happy to read in last week’s Times that Shore Front Parkway would be resurfaced as early as this week! Wouldn’t’ it be nice if DOT just maintained our roads proactively without the need for political arm twisting?

But let’s not stand on principle, the big issue is that this well-used, beach front thoroughfare needs more than new asphalt. This imminent resurfacing project is a unique opportunity, perhaps our last, to restore its full functionality.

Several years ago the DOT decimated SFP, as they had every other major east-west road in Rockaway, by removing a full lane in each direction. Their maze of painted white lines had the immediate and purposeful effect of halving the capacity of this once-proud road, all done by City Hall edict without local public approval.

A restored Shore Front Parkway should consist of two lanes in each direction, with parking on the building side and a shared passenger drop-off / boardwalk concession bicyclist bypass lane on the beach side. Additional parking can and should be incorporated on the center median.

Rockaway needs at least one good two-lane, east-west road for safe and efficient transportation, especially in emergency situations. SFP is the perfect egress road for getting thousands of residents to the centrally located Beach 94 Street that provides direct access to the Cross Bay Bridge.

The time is now for Community Board 14, elected representatives and individual citizens to let DOT know that we don’t just need a good-looking road, but also a safe and efficient one. You don’t have to be a transportation expert to understand that Rockaway needs additional traffic and parking lanes, more than white lines designating empty, unusable and wasted space.

Take a moment to call Eric Ulrich’s office at 718-318-6411 and let him know how you feel.

Rick Horan

Enough With the Poop

Dear Editor:

To the attention of all dog owners in Rockaway Park: we have been blessed with a beautiful, brand new boardwalk and a clean beach, but some of you with your dogs poop have made it impossible for us to walk. We want you to hire a weekly truck with pressurized water to clean the boardwalk and a truck with a rake to clean our beach. Why aren't there strict rules and high fees for dog owners who walk their dogs' on our beaches and our gorgeous boardwalk? They allow their pets to poop and do not clean up after them. This needs to stop!